Dell Precision M3800 Owner's Review

Hence the ability to embed raster graphics in a vector-graphics image, as is done all the time in just about any PDF file containing images. But, this discussion is really going off-topic at this point (yeah, I know, I kind of started it myself, too ), so I'll just leave it at that.

 

Well for what its worth, and for those still waiting. My story:

I ordered on the 27th November 2013, with a delivery estimate date of the 9th December 2013. When I made the order I was assured of a pre-xmas delivery, with no mention of supply issues.

Anyway, the 9th came and went and the laptop never moved out of pre-processing. I had to query this before being told that it would be there by the 16th December 2013 (I think they made this up at the time).

Now today, I have just been informed this is going to be 27th January 2014.

So I decided to cancel the order, I am pretty frustrated, given how unhelpful Customer service was. It also doesn't help when I look on the order site and see that if I made a purchase today I would "seemingly" have a new laptop by the 9th January 2014. Customer Support have yet to explain why this is.

Anyway, this thread proved interesting reading whilst I was waiting....

 

After reading more delay posts and problems with the QHD screen I think I'm gonna pass on this Dell. CES is just around the corner and upcoming ultrabooks will be announced soon. I was about to drop $2500 for a laptop no problem but I have a feeling we'll have better options soon even though they are limited now. Dell if you're listening: you dropped the ball!

 

In Dell's defense, neither the display supply issue nor the inability of some software to run properly on HiDPI is their fault. I guess you could argue that they should have waited longer to release a HiDPI panel, but how many apps would have to be up to snuff before you'd consider it release-ready? And then there's the fact that if nobody released a HiDPI panel waiting for better software support, the software devs wouldn't bother supporting HiDPI because there wasn't any hardware out to use it yet. This is how technology rollouts always work. Cutting-edge stuff comes out, there are supply shortages sometimes (Apple had the same issue with the Retina iPad Mini), and not everything works perfectly with the existing ecosystem. The people who like being on the cutting edge put up with those inconveniences in exchange for getting the new shiny stuff early, and as it becomes more mainstream and better-supported, the technology moves to the masses.

Also keep in mind that for certain people using certain sets of applications, QHD+ is performing flawlessly. My only issue is RDP, but that's not a dealbreaker because I don't do a lot of RDP from my personal machine; I'm either RDPing INTO my personal machine or RDPing from my work machine.

Of course new and better stuff is always around the corner, but if you took the "wait for something better" approach all the time, you'd never buy any technology -- except the Pioneer Kuro TV. Also keep in mind that stuff shown at CES is almost never actually available immediately thereafter, and sometimes never becomes available.

I'm a wait and see guy too; I'd been using my Precision M6300 for over 5 years and it was a very solid platform for that time (after some upgrades along the way), and before I bought this I'd waited a long time looking for my "next-gen laptop platform". I finally chose to buy this one because it had everything I wanted now and the right mix of hardware for solid futureproofing: HiDPI, HDMI 1.4, DisplayPort 1.2, USB 3.0 (with charging while off and high-current charging for iPads and such), headSET audio connector, M.2/NGFF slot, mSATA 6Gbps slot, quad-core CPU, 16GB of RAM (possibly even upgradeable to 32, though we won't know until 16GB DIMMs are released), AC Wifi, multi-touch touchscreen and trackpad, backlit keyboard, and webcam.

That hardware profile is excellent for today, and those connectors/slots give me a good platform for future upgrades (4K external display, faster Wifi cards, faster/larger SSD, etc). This was the first machine I found that had all of that in the same package, and there's no new technology on the horizon that I'm worried about missing. The only ones I can think of are USB 3.1 (meh), PCIe storage (meh), and HDMI 2.0 (I've got MiniDP 1.2 here.) The fact that this machine was also thin, light, and gorgeous on top of all of its specs made buying it that much easier a decision.

 

Sucks. But.. at least you didn't get the wrong laptop and now having to wait and fight to even return and get the correct laptop you paid 2600 $ for.

 

Started an account just to share my experiences and join in on the conversation.

I received the FHD yesterday. Unfortunately the HardDrive was unseated so I still havent seen what things look like yet because I didnt have a stupid torx screwdriver at 1AM last night to take it apart and check.

I usually build my own PCs workstations at home for design and animation but really needed a laptop. I switched form osx to windows 3 years ago and never wanted to look back.

I didnt want to buy a rmbp because the one that i would need is like 1500 more than the m3800. Even tho I havent seen the display yet I will say that I think the body and overall design feel of the laptop is really great. I love the carbon fiber, the mattes, the way the keys feel. The font is kinda dumb, but its different. Also why would I ever want to own anything that mimics a mac down to the way the keys are made.

I will say though however. I will never buy anything from Dell again. Worst customer service and process for ordering computer equipment I have ever used. I almost ordered a rmbp because I actually had to think to myself, I can't believe if I ordered from apple this whole process would have been a breeze. It's really sad that Dell almost turned this newly diehard windows user back to using a mac. In the end this whole thing wasn't worth it, I still might even take the laptop back. I don't know I still haven't been able to see what the FHD screen looks like.

Ill keep you updated, sorry for my rant. But Dell you lost me, even if this is the best laptop I've ever used you won't get anymore money from me.

-Matt

 

Yeah all the posts on ordering has thrown me and others off.

Can you report what the battery life is on the FHD version of the m3800? I imagine since they only have the 61Whr battery then the 1080p screen wouldn't need as much juice as the Q would. Thanks!

 

I'm very curious after reading all of these posts about the font used on the keyboard keys; that is what you're talking about, correct?
Could someone please post a close up picture of the keyboard so that those of us that won't see our machines for a month or more can see what all this fuss is about?

 

The U.S. Dell web site now shows the single FHD selection as shipping tomorrow, December 13, but it shows all three of the QHD+ models with an estimated ship date of January 15, 2014. To me, this makes it appear as though they are fixing a problem that has cropped up with this QHD+ screen. As far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't think this is a supply problem at all judging from how few the number of machines are that have apparently been shipped and how far out this estimated ship date is. (I ordered mine a couple hours after it became available on their website, and the estimated date is now pushed out to January 8 via next day shipping.)

 

The smart money is on 16GB SO-DIMMs only coming in with DDR4, and there's no reason to think you'll be able to put DDR4 into any current laptop. DDR4 is hitting for servers in the coming year, not sure if it will hit laptops/desktops.

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Has anyone seen a W540 in the wild yet? Not quite as thin or light, not quite as pretty, and a slightly lower-res retina-like screen (QHD vs QHD+), but may be a bit cheaper, and still thinner than the W530 or M4700/4800 (and supposed to be lighter, but the prerelease one I got to play with -- momentarily -- didn't allow me side-by side access with any current machine)... not yet orderable direct from Lenovo, though, and who knows how realistic the lead times are for retailers who don't have it in stock?

Still, given all the ordering issues, I have to wonder if Lenovo is smarter to leave it as a "coming soon."

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Mine remains "in production" and the delivery date has actually moved up -- currently showing 12/20, when it had been moved back to 12/23. I'll believe it when I see it.